Cunningham ends Gateway’s District Sides dream
Mens Finalists.pdfGold Coast-Tweed, Sunshine Coast, Cunningham and Bundaberg through to men’s District Sides Division 1 play-offs. Sunshine Coast’s men should be thanking their lucky stars (and Cunningham) after scraping into tomorrow’s Division 1 play-offs at the 2014 District Sides Championships on the Gold Coast.
The Sunny Coast boys, who haven’t won the title since 1997, appeared to be out of luck again this year, running third in Section A heading into today’s final sectional rounds.
Their only hope was to win all three of today’s games and pray that Section A leaders Cunningham could overhaul second-placed Gateway in Round 9.
A loss for Gateway would see them finish sectionals on equal points with Sunshine Coast, with the Division 1 berth going to the side with the highest shots margin.
The Coast boys did their bit, clocking up big wins over North Qld, 80-56, Gold Coast –Tweed, 77-47, and Leichhardt 73-47, while Gateway edged out Brisbane and 76-69 and Port Curtis, 73-55, continuing their unbeaten run in the competition…until they met Cunningham that is.
With a Division 1 berth on the line, Gateway’s boys battled valiantly in Round 9.
But ultimately they fell at the final hurdle, suffering a heartbreaking three-shot loss that saw Sunshine Coast leapfrog them into second place on margins, 236-vs-183, and sneak into tomorrow’s Division 1 showdown.
Section B was a more clear-cut affair, with leaders Gold Coast-Tweed A undefeated again on Day 3 to secure their shot at the title.
Like Cunningham, Gold Coast A haven’t dropped a match throughout the whole tournament, with Mackay, Brisbane North and Bundaberg their latest victims.
While they worked-over Mackay with relative ease, 80-48, the clash with 2013 champs Brisbane North was a real dogfight, but the Goldie boys got the last bite, 57-56.
Their Round 9 win over Bundaberg could also prove telling, with the sides destined to meet again in tomorrow’s Div 1 finals, after Bundaberg finished second in Section B.
Round Robin play-offs will be held at clubs across the Gold Coast tomorrow, kicking off at 8.50am.
Div 1 – Broadbeach BC Div 2 – Mermaid Beach BC Div 3- Musgrave Hill Div 4 – Southport BC Div 5 – Robina BC
Click here to visit the event page for full results and other information.
Click here to download play-off Divisions 1-5
Click here to download Rnd 9 ladder
